Monday, September 3, 2012

Thank you to all those who took part in the poll last year to choose a personality for a grammar movie. The most popular choice was a lady detective in the style of an Agatha Christie character, and thus Ms Parrot the grammar detective was born.

Last week, Ms Parrot was sitting in her study reading her memoirs (which coincidentally contained examples of most uses of the definite (the) and indefinite (a/an) article in English) when she received a suspicious letter saying that English grammar was being held ransom and would only be saved if she donated $1,000,000 to the Grammar Survival Fund. At the same time, all the articles flew away from the page she was reading. Luckily, she had also just received an invitation to take part in a quiz show called 'Thanks a Million', with the chance to win - you've guessed it - $1,000,000. She rushed off to join the show and, helped by the wonderful 'Thanks a Million' quiz show audience and the flamboyant game show host Oscar Cicada, won a million dollars and saved English grammar!

The final version of this grammar movie, together with practice exercises and answers, will be available online in October or November. Rest assured that English grammar is now safe!